Deal Gymnastic Club's Lucy Merritt, Katy Morris and Ashleigh Heath will represent the South East in a national final next month.

Deal Gymnastic Club's acro and tumbling squad have secured places at a national final.

Lucy Merritt, Katy Morris and Ashleigh Heath, who competed in the Grade 4 women’s group, will represent the South East at the Acro and Tumbling National Development finals in Stoke next month.

They won their place after their balance and dynamic routines sealed a gold medal, with a score of 47.850 in the national qualifiers at the Swallows Leisure Centre in Sittingbourne.

In Grade 3 women’s pairs Morris and Heath secured bronze medals, just 0.267 behind the gold medal position.

Merritt and Rachel Laker came fifth in the same category.

In Grade 2 women’s pairs, Jade Cunningham and Amy Mumby came 11th, and in Grade 1 women’s pairs Bethany Gray and Lauren Bird finished in eighth place.